Guilt
The birds chirping outside woke you the next morning. Your eyes opened slowly and you blinked a few times in the still dim morning light as you found yourself trapped between the guys. You were on your back. Chris was on his side, facing you and had nuzzled his head tight against your neck, his heavy arm across your middle. Sebastian was splayed out on his back, a bit diagonal on the bed, his upper body away from you slightly and one of his legs across both of yours.
He stretched in his sleep, his arms over his head and without warning, he slammed his elbows down, the one nearest to you hitting you hard in the eyebrow bone right at the corner of your eye.
"Fuck!", you cried out and then whimpered, covering where you were hit with one hand and turning away towards Chris.
Both of them snapped awake. The contact with you woke Sebastian and he jolted halfway up, instantly realizing what he'd done and he reached for you. At the same time, Chris had lifted his head and gripped you protectively with his once relaxed arm that was resting on you, a bewildered look on his face.
"Shit!", Sebastian exclaimed, "Honey, I'm so sorry!" He was leaning towards you, propped on his elbow, his hand on your arm.
You were growling at the pain quietly, clenching your teeth hard as Chris asked, "What happened?!", looking at you and lightly touching the hand on your face for a moment.
"I fuckin' elbowed her in the face in my sleep.", Sebastian cringed at himself. He turned you toward him as you hissed in pain. "Let me see, sweetie.", he gently pulled your hand away. There were tears streaming from your eye, which you couldn't even open yet and you were already getting a purple goose egg.
Chris had already sat up, leaning on his hand to get a better look and his eyebrows shot up, "Oh, shit."
Sebastian's eyebrows furrowed in guilt. "Oh my God, baby, I'm so sorry.", he rolled you a little closer and hunched his upper body over you carefully to hold you, resting his cheek against your head. He gave Chris a look that said 'God, I'm awful.' Chris's face showed sympathy for both you and Sebastian.
You managed to open your eye a little, "Am I bleeding?", you asked against Sebastian's chest.
He pulled his head back and looked down at you, his face pained, "No, but you've got a nasty purple bump."
"That's better than bleeding.", you managed a weak smile.
He wiped the tears from your cheek and temple with his thumb, "God, I'm so sorry." He rested his forehead against yours.
"I forgive you, Sebby.", you chuckled softly, the pain becoming a dull throb now and your eye becoming easier to keep open.
Chris rolled over and got out of the bed, "I'll go get some ice." He disappeared out the door.
Sebastian continued to hold you and couldn't stop apologizing, "I'm so sorry."
"Seb, it's okay. I'm fine.", you patted his chest reassuringly.
"I'm supposed to protect you, not beat you up. I told you that I wouldn't let anything happen to you and here I am hurting you. I never want to hurt you."
You sighed. It was becoming difficult to convince him. You pulled back enough to look up at him. His face was still twisted up in guilt. "Please, Seb. It was an accident.", you reached up and placed a hand softly against his cheek and he closed his eyes, covering your hand with his. You could feel his heartbeat quicken under your other hand on his chest and his face softened. "I'm okay.", you said softly.
You removed your hand and he opened his eyes just before Chris entered the room.
"Okay, here we go, hon.", Chris sat on the bed, facing the headboard, one leg bent up on the bed. Sebastian held out his hand and Chris handed him the dish towel covered bag of ice.
He touched it to your face as lightly as he could and you sucked in a tiny hiss which incited a flinch from him. You gave him a small assuring smile to tell him that you were okay.
You let Sebastian fuss over you a while longer while Chris went upstairs to make coffee and breakfast.
Sebastain climbed off the bed and helped you up, "Are you doing okay, doll?" He licked his lips, anxiously and bit his bottom lip. He just couldn't wipe that expression of concern off his face.
You flashed him a bright smile, "Yes, Sebby. I promise."
He hugged you into his arms tight, being mindful not to touch where you were injured. He kissed the top of your head about five times.
You rubbed your cheek against his chest a little and spoke, "I noticed you called me a few endearing names that you never have before, even when I was having panic attacks.", you smiled.
He chuckled softly, "Yeah, I guess when you feel like an asshole it just all comes out."
You pushed back away from his chest, "Stop it.", you grinned.
He finally smiled back.
He took your hand and lead you upstairs.
Once in the kitchen, he pulled out your chair at the table and pushed it in as you sat, gave your shoulders a squeeze and moved to the counter to get you a cup of coffee.
Chris set of plate of blueberry pancakes with eggs and sausage in front of you and put down two ibuprofen on the table beside it. "You need to eat before you take those."
"Thank you.", you smiled up at him.
He bent over slightly and turned your head with a gentle hand to look at the bump, and grimaced, "How ya doin', kiddo?"
"I'm fine, thank you. Chris, I can't eat all this."
He chuckled, "That's okay, sweetheart.", he stroked you hair and went back to the stove to dish up his and Sebastian's plates.
After breakfast, you stood to take your plate to the sink and Sebastian jumped up from the table and grabbed your plate before you could, "I got it, babe."
"Seb, it's my face that got hurt. My arms and legs are fine."
"Just let me do it, please."
You nodded and sat back down to sip your coffee.
Once you finished your coffee, you rinsed your cup and put it in the dishwasher and headed to your room to get some clothes, Sebastian following after you. As you turned away from your dresser, clothes in hand, you saw him standing just inside the door.
"Seb, I'm fine."
"I know," he sighed, "I just really feel like I have to be near you."
"You can't follow me everywhere. You gonna follow me into the shower too?", you said sarcastically, raising an eyebrow.
You realized that what you said may have been a mistake when the corners of his mouth curled up mischievously, "Is that an invitaion?"
You scoffed as you passed him and shoved his shoulder back playfully, "No."
You were having lunch with Pepper, Natasha and Maria later. Once the time came, they arrived to pick you up. You were in the living room, watching TV. The guys were downstairs watching a college basketball game that you had no interest in. The girls all came to the door and when you answered, their smiles all turned to worry at the sight of the terrible lump on your face.
Pepper spoke first as you let them in, "(Y/N), what happened?!"
You hoped the guys couldn't hear her, Sebastian would feel even worse.
"Sebastian elbowed me-"
They all started to look pretty pissed, so you continued quickly, "It was an accident, he was asleep."
Natasha stepped closer so she could whisper, her eyes wide and probing, "(Y/N), if someone is hitting you, you need to tell me. We'll get you out of here right now and I'll kick their ass or asses myself."
"Nat,", you said quietly, "I'm telling the truth. We were sleeping and he stretched, in his sleep, and accidentally got me when he put his elbow down. He feels awful. He fussed over me all morning."
She looked at you for a long beat, her lips pressed together tight, "Okay.", she finally said hesitantly, "But if anyone EVER lays a hand on you, you leave and tell someone immediately.
"I swear, I would.", you assured her without skipping a beat.
Nat's a pretty smart cookie; she had been paying close attention to your body language, facial expressions, tone, and inflection since she saw the bump. She noticed that you replied to the things she said very quickly, which indicated that you didn't need time to think about how to reply to cover something up. You did nothing to try to hide the wound either, you weren't even wearing a lick of makeup. You also used the word 'would' instead of 'will'. 'Would' is definite future tense, not present tense. That's all the proof that she needed.
"Okay!", she chirped happily. "Everything's fine here." She said to the other girls. They knew how keen Nat was on how people worked, so they trusted her.
You shouted goodbye to the guys downstairs and they shouted back. You left with the girls.
You all went to sushi, Pepper was treating this time. You were sat at a table inside a small room with a booth and paper paned wood sliding doors.
Once you were all seated, Pepper smiled at you, "So, how's the job search going?"
You sighed heavily, "Not good."
She frowned, "Aw, I'm sorry. Do you have any experience besides nails?"
"Yes,", you took a sip of your water, "I've done basic administrative work too."
She nodded, "I'll keep and eye out for you."
"Me too.", Nat and Maria said in unison and you all laughed.